


Of Roses and Thorns

by AmateurWriter02



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I'm new to this tag stuff, I'm not sure what counts as graphic violence, Identity Reveal, Injury, Tagged just to be safe, someone help pls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 13:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14021355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmateurWriter02/pseuds/AmateurWriter02
Summary: It isn't easy being Paris' greatest superheroes--no one ever said it was.Being on time for every akuma is a difficult task. Sometimes you arrive late. Sometimes you're already there. Other times you're there but you can't transform.So what happens when that's the case? Marinette ends up in the middle of a scene between Chat Noir and a rather dangerous akuma.She's hard pressed to make a decision. What are the consequences of interfering without wearing her spotted mask? Something tells her she's about to find out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I only have two rules for the people reading my works.
> 
> 1\. COMMENT--It is the best way to motivate me to work faster and/or better so if you want more then do this. Also I like reading them:) Constructive criticism is encouraged.
> 
> 2\. Use common sense in your comments. Basically, don't disrespect anyone and no racial slurs. 
> 
> I'm really serious about the commenting thing though. Please do it:3

It had been a normal school day at College Francois Dupont—up until Chloe akumatized the school's gardener, of course. During lunch, everyone left their classrooms to have lunch in the courtyard. Chloe was walking down the staircase at the entrance of the school, oblivious to the worker carefully trimming the bushes surround the school. She bumped into him, losing her balance and landing roughly on the concrete sidewalk. Coincidentally, she ended up tearing her expensive high-quality jeans which she had bought just a day ago.

Of course, naturally, Chloe's first response was to threaten to have her father fire the gardener.

Adrien didn't know if maybe the guy was already having a bad day or his entire life was just one big struggle, but the worker was akumatized on the spot. The little black butterfly fluttered innocently in the air and slipped past dozens of bystanders, finally reaching the victim. On contact with his garden sheers, the gardener morphed into a tight bundle of vines covered in thorns with a few flowers spread out sporadically throughout his body. Red eyes glowed ominously in the two pitch black holes the vines had grown around. His garden sheers were stuck in the center of his chest, more like decoration than a weapon.

Hearing the screaming from within the courtyard, Adrien was the first to react. He'd made up a lame excuse to Nino and bolted towards the school entrance, immediately diving over the staircase and into the bushes when he noticed the akuma. The bushes would provide sufficient cover for him to transform and in the chaos, he doubted anyone would've noticed how Cat Noir appeared from the same patch of bushes that Adrien had just jumped into. They'd probably be too preoccupied with running away. He tugged at his shirt pocket and whispered hurriedly into it.

"Plagg, claws out,” 

With a short burst of green light and the sound of rustling from the bushes, Cat Noir jumped out in front of the akuma, baton in hand and ready to take him on. He just had to hold off until his lady arrived. The akuma noticed him instantly, his glowing eyes narrowing as he growled in anger.

"I am The Human Garden and I will make everyone appreciate the work us gardeners put into our precious greenery!" He boomed, slowly walking towards Chat Noir, long thick vines growing out of cracks in the concrete that formed where he stood.

 

_I just have to hold out until Ladybug arrives and then we can come up with a proper plan to defeat this guy._

 

Unknown to him, Ladybug had yet to transform and was still on her way to investigate what had caused all the commotion that she'd heard. Marinette pushed open the large double at the front of the school and was greeted with an unkempt mess of vines and flowers strewn about the streets and sidewalk. In front of her stood Chat Noir, trying his best to stall for time with the akuma.

Instinctively, Marinette started running down the stairs to try and help her partner but soon realized there was nothing she could do—she hadn't transformed yet.

The Human Garden raised his arm and swung at Chat Noir, launching sharp thorns as big as a football and harder than a piece of steel rebar straight at him. Marinette let out a sigh of relief as she watched Chat Noir deftly dodge it, but even with his enhanced reflexes, the thorns passed a little too close for comfort.

Snapping herself out of her daze, Marinette turned around and started heading back up the stairs to try and find a secluded place to transform. Her partner was fighting an akuma completely alone and there was no time to spare.

But luck picked a really inconvenient time to take a break.

In a stroke of misfortune that rivaled Chat Noir's own unluckiness, Marinette's foot caught on her other shoe as she turned around and she landed on the ground, scraping her hands and knees. Her resolve to stay silent betrayed her as she let out a small whimper of pain. To her abhorrent horror, both Chat Noir and the akuma snapped their attention to her.

The Human Garden flung a barrage of thorns at Marinette, who watched as Chat Noir sidestepped from the path of the thorns only for his face to contort in horror as he realized where they were really aimed at.

“MARINETTE!”

She would've been dead if she was a regular person leading a normal life, but obviously, she wasn't. As her alter-ego Ladybug, Marinette was used to dealing with these kinds of situations on a daily basis. She rolled out of the way, watching as the thorns practically exploded the concrete stairs where she'd been laying before. She scrambled to her feet and looked frantically for an opportunity to escape.

Chat Noir breathed an audible sigh of relief, but she could tell how his eyes still showed fear in them—fear for her wellbeing.

"Marinette get out of here," He shouted, shifting his focus back to the akuma, It's far too dangerous for you here!”

"Y-yeah, I was just going to do that," She stammered back, ready to head back into the school and finally transform. 

Adrien took a nervous glance at Marinette and then returned his attention to the Human Garden. "When is LB gonna get here?" He thought aloud.

Marinette fought every urge to shout "Soon" to him, or "Just a minute", or even "I'm right here!". Okay, well maybe not the last one—not yet at least. She didn't want to reveal her identity, but if it came down to it and she had to save Chat, she'd do it in a heartbeat. Anxiously, she settled on a few words of encouragement as she left.

"Don't worry Chat, I'm sure she'll be here really soon. Just hold out for a bit longer!" She shouted over her back, but she froze as her hand touched the metal handle of the door.

Chat Noir shot her a tired smile which she normally would've been relieved to see had she not noticed the single vine slow growing out towards Chat Noir, like a tiny serpent poised to strike. If that vine got ahold of him, he'd be stuck where he stood. He'd lose his mobility, and if he lost his mobility, he might've well have lost his miraculous—or his life.

Marinette shuddered at the thought of a life without Chat—her silly kitty. Shaking her head, she ran back down the stairs towards the back of her cat. 

"Watch your six, Chat!", she shouted, sprinting towards him at full speed. The vine made contact with his ankle as he heard the warning. It dragged him forcefully to the ground so that he was forced to kneel on one knee, resisting the vine so it couldn't pull him down any further. The Human Garden smirked devilishly and pulled his arm back, ready to throw another volley of thorns at him—a volley he physically couldn't dodge.

Time seemed to almost slow down as he watched the lethal projectiles flying towards him, slowly growing bigger in his vision. He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth and preparing himself for the pain that would inevitably come.

Adrien waited and waited, expecting at any moment for him to either instantly die a painless death or feel an agonizing pain before simply bleeding out on the ground.

But the excruciating pain anyone would associate with getting impaled never came and the only pain he felt was a slight sting when he was tackled to the ground by a blur of shiny black hair and his head bumped into the ground lightly.

He opened his eyes at the sound of a pained gasp and he looked down in terror. Marinette laid on the ground, eyes pressed shut in pain and resting on the cold, unforgiving asphalt of the road with two large thorns protruding out of her—both on her right side, with one in her thigh and the other in her abdomen. Adrien felt like he screamed—for some reason he felt certain that he screamed, but he couldn't really tell.

 

Because even if he _had_ screamed, he never heard it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same as usual. Review review review! Constructive criticism is highly encouraged.

Chat Noir carefully rolled Marinette off of his chest and gently laid her on the ground beside him. A brief thought crossed his mind—one about Marinette’s reaction to the major injury she’d received. Sweet and caring Marinette was essentially impaled by two massive thorns, and yet all she’d done in response was let out a small gasp of pain. Part of him told him that maybe she was just used to this sort of pain. 

Adrien didn’t want to believe that the latter was true.

His worries were cut off when Marinette cracked open her eyes and looked into his with a steely determination.

“Chat,” She started, struggling to keep her voice steady as she grimaced in pain. Her voice cut through his thoughts and Chat immediately refocused onto the task at hand—the akuma that was right behind him. 

“Finish your fight,”

Chat Noir nodded in affirmation and looked up at the akuma, a desire to protect his injured friend now fueling his exhausted body. 

“Now would be a good time to arrive, bugaboo,” He muttered under his breath. He hadn’t noticed the way Marinette stiffened at the mention of Ladybug and how she almost looked guilty about something that was completely out of her control.

He stood up on the street, with Marinette behind him. In her reckless tackle, Marinette had not only saved him, but she also freed his leg from the vine which had been pulling him down. Adrien made a mental note to thank her later—as Chat Noir.

He picked his baton up from off the ground where he dropped it and stood firmly in place between the akuma and Marinette, acting as, at the very least, a physical barrier between the two. 

Chat Noir threw himself at the Human Garden, furious that he’d hurt his friend, although he was honestly more furious at the fact that he’d let himself get restrained by that vine in the first place. Marinette wouldn’t be lying on the street, bleeding out from two massive gaping wounds in her if he hadn’t let his guard down.

A darker voice in the back of his mind told him that none of that would’ve happened if Ladybug had just done her job and gotten to the fight in the first place. He pushed that thought aside. Now was not the time.

Chat Noir dodged the bursts of thorns as he ran towards the Human Garden. His was raised in one hand while his other was held open, ready to use Cataclysm at a moment’s noticed.

He’d been fairly close to reaching the garden sheers which the akuma resided in—he’d almost been an arms length away—but a cluster of vines suddenly emerged from both his sides in small cracks that began to grow rapidly along the ground. Chat Noir was forced to jump backwards to avoid getting ensnared. Frustrated, he stood stoically in the middle of the road, letting himself catch his breath while he had the chance.

He spared a glance behind his back to make sure Marinette was alright—well, as “alright” as someone could be after getting speared by two gigantic thorns. He felt an extreme sense of dread build in his stomach when he realized that Marinette was no longer where he left her. The only trace of her existence being the uncomfortably large puddle of blood that stained the asphalt. His eyes followed the unsettling trail of blood that led away from where Marinette had last been and, to his great relief—and disbelief—Marinette was standing upright. Granted, she was clutching her side while leaning on the side of a building on the other side of the street in a tiny alleyway, but she was still standing upright nonetheless. She gave him a small smile of encouragement, but it didn’t do much to calm his worries.

Seeing the amount of red that soaked her white undershirt made him feel sick to the stomach.

Chat Noir let himself release the tension in his shoulders and exhaled slowly. She was fine. Marinette was fine. Maybe she was a little pale in the face and standing on shaky knees, but otherwise she was fine. At least he hoped she was. She’d be okay once Ladybug used her Healing Light—speaking of Ladybug…

His frustration at her threatened to boil over. His lady was frequently late to akuma attacks—they both were—but she’d never been this late before. And even then, this time was different. It wasn’t a tardiness he could tolerate—this time Marinette was hurt because of it. He watched as Marinette’s expression suddenly changed to one of worry. He was confused for a moment but regained ahold of himself. Right—There’s still an akuma behind him.

“Chat, dodge right!”

Chat Noir was briefly stunned at how loud her voice was. It was stern and professional, like she knew what she was doing. He didn’t think that Marinette could ever raise her voice to those decibels, let alone in the condition she was in, but her command felt strict and assertive. It demanded authority. Oddly enough, he felt as though there was a surprising similarity to Ladybug’s voice that he just couldn’t explain.

Without another second of hesitation, Chat dived to the right, rolling on the concrete and stopping in a low crouch on the ground. He turned his head to the left just in time to watch as five thorns tore into the road, throwing chunks of asphalt into the air. The amount of power in the organic projectiles was terrifying. If the sheer force of it hitting the ground was enough to take a considerable chunk of road out of the ground, then—

 

_How bad is Marinette really injured?_

 

Chat Noir worried immensely for Marinette. She seemed like she knew how to deal with the pain and masked it pretty well, but if that were the case, it wasn’t a stretch to consider that underneath her facade, the injury could really be much worse than she made it seem. He didn’t want to think about what could happen if that were true. He exhaled, setting his eyes on the Human Garden and prepared himself to make another attempt at dispatching the akuma.

In a “Miraculous” display of both skill and agility despite his fatigue, Chat Noir exchanged blows with the Human Garden, making several attempts to try and land a hit on the garden sheers while dodging volley after volley of sharp thorns and thick vines.

The Human Garden seemed unaffected by their fight, standing motionlessly on the sidewalk as if he’d exerted no effort in countering Chat’s attacks. Chat Noir, on the other hand, panted heavily as he struggled to resist the temptation to rest. He tightened his grip around his baton only to loosen it again soon after, using the steel rod as though it was a stress-ball. He pushed through every desire to go home and collapse into bed. His burning lungs and aching muscles pleaded with him to rest, but he pushed through.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever look at Ladybug in the same light ever again after this fight.  He didn’t know what he’d do with the akuma without Ladybug’s yoyo, but he knew that, with or without Ladybug, he had to win this for the people of Paris—for Marinette.

Chat Noir held his baton firmly in his grasp, standing tall with a new burning motivation to defeat the Human Garden. 

He breathed out, calming his racing heart and looked over his shoulder, hoping to get a smile of encouragement from his princess, but when he turned around, she was gone.

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter (Sorry about that). Please comment!:P

Marinette stumbled through the alley, clutching her side in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding—not that it didn’t slow it at least. On weak legs and shaky knees, she continued further down the alley until she was sure no one would see her transform. Exhausted, she collapsed onto the floor. 

Here, safe from the akuma and away from other people, she was finally able to take a more detailed look at her wounds. The first thorn hit her in the middle of her thigh. Judging from the angle, it had pierced her leg from and glanced off of her femur. The second was right in her abdomen. She wasn’t sure if it the tip was protruding out of her back, but she didn’t want to find out. Luckily none of the thorns broke any of her bones.

She laughed at the irony of that thought. Despite being Lady Luck, luck was definitely not on her side today.

Marinette opened her purse and a very concerned Tikki flew out of it.

“Marinette are you okay?” Tikki exclaimed. She hovered close to her injuries but still remaining a good distance away. It seemed as though she wanted to touch the thorns, as if to confirm that this wasn’t just a nightmare—even though Marinette doubted kwamis could have nightmares. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Marinette groaned, she shifted uncomfortably against the wall of the alleyway. “Tikki, can I transform like this?” She wanted to get back and help Chat Noir. He needed her and she couldn’t be there.

“There’s one thing you’d have to do,” Tikki began reluctantly, eyes filled with worry and hesitance. Marinette gave her a look that told her to continue explaining. “You’ll need to pull the thorns out,”

Marinette bit her lip, brows furrowed and deep in thought, “What are my options?” She asked, “I’m pretty sure I’ll die of blood loss if I take these out,” gesturing at the two thorns sticking out of her.

“Your Ladybug suit is skin-tight—it essentially forms on tops of your skin. It can’t exactly do that with two big thorns sticking out of you.” Tikki explained, anxiously hoping that her chosen one wouldn’t decide to go charging recklessly into battle. “If you want my opinion, I think you should get help for yourself first and then you can go wrap things up with the akuma when you get better.”

Marinette paused in hesitation, seeming to contemplate the former option. It was a small detail that made Tikki fear for the worst.

“Marinette, the Healing Light and purifying the akuma can wait for later. I really suggest you treat your own injuries first and then when you’re at least not at risk of dying from blood loss, you can purify the akuma.” Tikki suggested, trying to convince Marinette against removing the thorns—there was no telling what would happen if she did. “Chat will keep the akuma contained until you’re better,”

“But that’s _if_ Chat defeats the akuma in the first place,” Marinette retorted, although in the back of her mind she hoped Tikki was right and that Chat would be able to defeat the Human Garden on his own. 

“Don’t you trust Chat Noir’s ability to fight on his own?” Tikki asked, hoping to maybe guilt Marinette into taking care of herself before taking care of the akuma. 

Marinette paused, considering all of the possible outcomes. Chat was a formidable foe—she’d learned that on Valentine’s day last year—and his combat skills were excellent, but she couldn’t risk leaving his fate to chance. If he desperately needed her help in the fight and she never arrived, Marinette didn’t know if she’d be able to live with herself, especially if he got badly hurt—or worse. 

“You think I’d trust that silly kitty to take on an akuma all by himself? Not a chance,” She said sarcastically, taking a crack at some dry humor to lighten up the situation a bit—although it was more for herself than for Tikki. 

In the eerie silence of the alley, Marinette took the synthetic leather strap on her purse and folded it up a few times, until it was about as thick as an eraser. She placed the strap in between her teeth and bit down lightly on it. She wiped her sweaty hands off on her jeans and took a firm grip on the thorn that was stuck in her thigh.

Sweat beading on her forehead, she took a deep breath and pulled.

 

* * *

 

 

Chat Noir stood exhaustedly on his two feet, glaring at the Human Garden, frustrated with his inability to protect the innocent and his inability to protect Marinette. He wondered if this fight would’ve been over had Ladybug arrived. Unfamiliar anger towards his partner bubbled in his chest, burning his lungs and churning his stomach—he’d never been this angry before, let alone at her. 

But then again, this was all her fault, wasn’t it?

A part of Chat told him to stop telling himself lies and think rationally—about how Ladybug had a normal side and other obligations. In his rage, his rationale was all but forgotten. 

If Ladybug had just been here, they would’ve easily beaten this alums and then Marinette wouldn’t have gotten hurt. Maybe if he’d just been more aware too. Then Marinette wouldn’t have had to save him. But then again, his awareness wouldn’t have mattered if Ladybug had been here to help him finish the job before Marinette could even get in harm’s way. At the end of the day—at the end of all the anger and accusations—it all just boiled down to it being her fault. Ladybug’s fault…Right?

He almost dropped his baton in surprise when it vibrated and flipped the screen open.

 

_Caller ID: Ladybug_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment! I live for the feedback!

Chat Noir held his baton up to his ear, anxiously waiting for the call to connect. The ambient sound of soft static in his ear told him once he was connected. 

“Chat,”

He almost jumped when he heard her voice. Bitter thoughts still floated in his mind, but the sound of her voice seemed to shut down every frustration and resentment he’d held against her—or most all of them.

Chat forced that to the back of his mind and, almost immediately, a vast array of new questions flooded his mind, as if trying to fill the vacuum left by his angers and irritations. What took her so long? Why didn’t she tell him what was holding her up? Did she find Marinette?

_Was she hurt?_

“M’Lady,”

Despite all the thoughts he had bouncing around in his mind, Chat Noir only managed to utter out those two words and he instantly berated himself for it. 

He took a glance up at the Human Garden to make sure he wasn’t going to attack him and found himself rather amused when he noticed that the akuma had a glowing purple butterfly over his face, unmoving as he seemed to converse with Hawkmoth.

_I guess he has a call to take too_

Chat laughed a little bit at the thought of that.

“Chat, how are you doing with the akuma?” Ladybug asked. Her voice sounded strained but he could still _feel_ the amount of worry she held for him. Guilty for how much anger he’d felt towards his partner just a few minutes before, he responded quickly.

“I’m doing just fine. A bit battered and worn down a little, but other than that I’d say I was handling it pretty well, if I do say so myself,” Chat answered quickly, downplaying how he _really_ felt to keep his lady from worrying. In reality, his lungs were on fire, his limbs ached, and his head was a mess. To top it all off, he just couldn’t focus. “There were a few close calls, but…” Chat started, but trailed off into silence.

“Chat, you there?” Ladybug said, cutting through the tangent Chat Noir’s thoughts had wandered off into.

“Hey—“ He paused, “did you, um, by any chance come across a girl before you called?” Chat Noir hesitated. Would his lady get mad if she found out he was saved by a civilian? Not to mention the fact that said civilian was a high school student. He briefly contemplated if he should ask her about it for a moment, but quickly resolved to tell Ladybug the situation. With her injuries, there was a very good chance that Marinette wouldn’t survive without proper treatment and if she died because he had been too busy worrying about what Ladybug would say about it, he might as well have killed her himself. There was no way he’d be able to live with her blood on his hands and that weight on his shoulders.

“What girl—“

“Relatively short, petite build, and with medium-length black hair tied into two pigtails.” Chat Noir began, cutting her off mid-sentence. He prayed she would know something about how Marinette was doing. “Her name’s Marinette—Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

When Ladybug didn’t respond, he took her silence as a signal to continue, “She happened to come across my fight right when the akuma had caught my leg. I thought that I was going to die for sure, but she shoved me out of the way and took the hits for me! Marinette’s hurt bad, LB. She ran off while I was busy with the akuma, but I don’t know if she’ll survive without help. Bugaboo, you have to find her. She saved my life, but if I can’t return the favor and she dies, I don’t know what I’ll do.” Chat Noir breathed short and quick breathes, seeming to terrify himself more and more as he tried to imagine every possible worst-case scenario. “Could I even properly function if she ends up dying just to save me? _Mon dieu_ , she could be dead already—I really hope not. She’s such a sweet and caring person and she deserves so much better than to die a premature death…” Chat Noir continued on, nervously rambling on and on. “But what if she’s still in that alleyway, bleeding out all alone with no—”

 

“Chat, she’s fine!”

 

He stopped abruptly, seeming to regain some of his composure. Ladybug seemed to have been talking to him but he didn’t really hear her until she raised her voice at him, shattering his thoughts.  “Did you see her?” He asked.

Ladybug paused, not wanting to tell such an outright lie to her partner. “Yeah, I saw her for a fraction of a second while I was on my way here” She explained, “—she was fine though,”

“Did you stop to help her? How was she?” Chat Noir asked, anxiously waiting for Ladybug to report on his friend’s condition. The seconds dragged on in silence as Ladybug found herself struggling to fabricate a fictional story on her encounter with herself, ironically enough.

 “Oh, she was completely fine, don’t worry,” Ladybug answered, hoping Chat wouldn’t question her any further. Unfortunately for her, he did.

“Are you sure? She got hurt pretty bad. I’m certain she needs some kind of professional treatment and I don’t know if she can get it on her own,” Chat said, clearly worried over the condition Marinette was in. 

“Chat, stop fretting over Marinette. I already told you she’s fine. There was an ambulance and everything,” Ladybug said, feeling guilty for lying to her partner, but there wasn’t much else she could do. “Besides, we still have an akuma to fight, so are you going to take care of that or are you just going to keep worrying about her?” Ladybug said, kicking his mind back into gear before they could stray too far off the task at hand.

“Right. Deal with the akuma first and worry about Marinette later,” Chat reaffirmed, mostly just to make sure he himself would follow Ladybug’s advice. “Alright, I’m going to hang up now. The akuma’s been standing there for a while now and I can’t help but feel as though he’ll attack at any moment, and I want to have both hands free to defend,” Chat stated.

“Got it, fill me in when I get there. It sounds like—” Ladybug stopped midway through her sentence and Chat could’ve sworn he heard her grunt in the background. 

“Anything wrong, LB?”

“Nope, it’s nothing. Sorry, I just lost my footing and almost slipped on a crooked shingle on one of the roofs, clumsy me,” Ladybug replied back, sounding a little stiff. Her tone of voice sounded forced. Chat wanted to question her further but he decided against it, choosing instead to do it after the akuma was taken care of.

“Oh…alright then. Well, be careful. You might be an experienced superhero but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to slippery tiles. I’ll see you when you get here,” Chat said. He had many questions to ask, but none that were important enough to ask in the middle of a battle. 

“Sure thing, kitty. I’ll see you in a minute,” Ladybug responded before ending the call. Chat looked at the “call disconnected” screen blankly for a moment but then swiftly changed the phone back into a baton. He breathed out.

 

Marinette will be okay.

 

She _had_ to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment!

Marinette was sitting on the roof of an apartment building, taking a moment to catch her breath. She wasn’t lying when she said she’d slipped on the rooftop, but in her movement to stop herself from falling off the building, she’d once again twisted her body in a way that ground into her wounds. She unwillingly let out a small grunt of pain but she bit her lip and tried to stifle it as best as she could. Of course, Chat had noticed it anyways, with him his superhero hearing.

For a second, Marinette sat silently as she caught her breath, but she quickly reminded herself that every second she spent standing by idly was a second Chat spent fighting an akuma by himself. Marinette didn’t like the thought of that at all.

Sighing, she forced herself off the ground and with a running start—or more of a limping start—she leaped off the rooftop and zipped away towards College Francois Dupont, anxious to get to her kitty.

When Ladybug arrived at the fight, the first thing she noticed was just how much more collateral damage there was from the last time she saw it. Vines grew out of every crevice in the ground and chunks of concrete from the nearby buildings and streets were blown away by the akuma’s thorns. 

She stood on the edge of a building on the opposite end of the street which the fight was taking place on. Chat Noir seemed to be holding his own pretty well in the fight, and he didn’t appear to have any obvious injuries from what she could tell. Ladybug let out a sigh of relief that she didn’t know she’d been holding.

Ladybug jumped down from the roof, but her landing was much worse than she’d expected. She had enough experience to make these landings smooth, but experience couldn’t take her mind off of the pain from her wounds. With her mind distracted, her foot slipped upon hitting the ground and she was forced to improvise a not-so-graceful roll instead of the “superhero” landing she’d been aiming for. The jarring impact of hitting the ground sent a flash of white hot pain into her thigh and abdomen. It took all she could to stifle a scream and resist the urge to reactively clutch at her side.

The sound of her feet hitting the ground alerted Chat to her presence and he turned around to face her.

“You alright, m’Lady?” Chat asked, having noticed the rather rough landing. Usually she’d never mess up any of her landings. They were both experienced to the point where it felt like a second nature to them. 

Ladybug remained silent. The world seemed to be spinning for Ladybug and for a moment she could’ve sworn she saw black spots begin swarming the edge of her vision. Whether it was from the pain or the blood loss, she couldn’t tell. Maybe it was both, but there was no way of knowing for sure. 

With a skin-tight suit like the one she wore, she’d hoped that it would at least slow the bleeding a little bit. With any luck—and she prayed she had some left to spare—she’d just barely manage to get through the fight and escape to a secluded place where she could finally get her injuries some proper treatment, although to be honest the hospital was starting to sound like a pretty good idea at the moment. Nevertheless, Ladybug balled her fists together while trying to ignore the pain and quietly recomposed herself.

“I’m fine, Chat, just give me a rundown of what’s happened so far,” Ladybug said, going through great lengths to hide the pain in her voice and at least sound somewhat normal. If it hurt that much when she was just standing still, how much more painful would it be when she actually had to move while fighting the akuma?

“The Human Garden. He’s the school’s gardener. Don’t get hit by his thorns, they do a lot of damage,” He said. Ladybug almost laughed at the irony of the whole situation. “Don’t get caught by his vines either. They emerge out of the ground and are pretty much impossible to escape once they grab ahold of you, so don’t let that happen, that would be a _cat_ astrophe” Chat added, not wanting a repeat of what happened earlier with Marinette.

Ladybug looked over at Chat, taking note of his exhaustion. He was tired and a little beat up, but other than that he was okay. His pun had given her reassurance. If he could still pun, then he wasn’t hurt too bad. With her injured, it was clear that Chat was by far the most effective out of the duo. On any regular day, they would be otherwise equal in combat prowess, but obviously today was anything but regular. Ladybug decided that he’d have to be the one to get the akuma.

“Hey Chat, you know how all the Parisians keep calling you my sidekick?” Ladybug asked. Chat Noir’s ears perked up and he looked at her in confusion. The odd question had caught him off guard. “Well, let’s clear up that misconception. How about I’ll be the distraction this time and you’ll get the akuma,” She said, giving him the best smile she could muster. It was weak smile, but it was an encouraging smile nonetheless. Chat looked back at her with obvious uncertainty and curiosity showing on his face.

“If you say so m’lady,” Chat replied, seeming to accept the role-switch without question although it was clear that he was still unsure as to why they were deviating from their usual plan. He was the more agile of the two and his baton lacked the same versatility that Ladybug’s yoyo had at a range to grab ahold of the akuma object. It made sense for him, the more agile of the two, to dodge attacks while she went for the akuma object with the range and utility her yoyo provided. What made this time different? He doubted Ladybug just wanted to mix things up for fun. She was usually pretty serious when it came to akuma attacks. 

Chat didn’t have much more time to question her decision when Ladybug stepped forward in front of Chat and began to shout at the akuma. 

“You know, it’s kind of funny how your ‘garden’ is just a bundle of vines and thorns even though you’re the Human Garden,” Ladybug began, trying to gain the akuma’s attention with some mild insults, “Believe me, I’d know. I grow a few plants myself and I can assure you that none of them look like you,”

Chat immediately began flanking the akuma to get to one of its blind spots, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Ladybug. She seemed off. Something was different. Whether it was because of her posture, her attitude, or just her lack of energy, he couldn’t tell. Maybe it was all of them. It was as if she was wearing a mask on top of her Ladybug mask, hiding something from him.

"You're puny gardening hobby could never compare to what I have to do!" The Human Garden shouted back in fury, Chat smirked. Ladybug may not be as good as he was with puns and wordplay, but she could still get under the akuma's skin. His thoughts flickered back to memories of the quiet nights he'd spent with her on the Eiffel Tower, teaching her how the pun. It was more because she wanted to be able to respond with some puns of her own whenever he used his puns and not as much since she liked puns, but he’d been glad to help nonetheless. It felt like a friendly competition. He couldn't deny that she was getting better at punning, but there was no way she'd ever reach his level. He was basically the God of puns. 

"Well now I'm _thorn_ between whether I should take that as an insult or a compliment," Ladybug retorted, making Chat's grin grow just a tad wider with her pun. He'd have to remind himself to compliment her on that one, it wasn’t bad considering the kind of akuma they were facing. "On one hand, you're insulting my garden which I put a lot of effort into, but on the other hand, you're saying that my gardening hobby produces results that look _way_ better than a professional gardener considering the fact that my flowers aren't covered in vines."

"Foolish Ladybug, I'll have your miraculous by the end of this fight," The akuma threw back, now seething with newfound anger. Ladybug continued on, pretending she didn't hear his statement.

"My flowers look very pretty too—nothing like the dinky little half-wilted ones that grow on your body,” Ladybug said, trying to wound his ego. That was a common weakness on just about all akumas—their sense of pride. An angry akuma was much more prone to make a mistake than a normal one. 

“As if any flower you grew could look anywhere near as good as mine,” The Human Garden sneered. He was furious now but he had no idea that he was playing directly into their hands. Ladybug gasped, feigning offense. 

“I’ll have you know that roses are very beautiful when they’re in full bloom, although in a sense they’re not all that different from you, with their thorns and all.” Ladybug continued, purposely using a tone of unwarranted pride to further anger the akuma.

Chat Noir, now off to the side behind the akuma merely chuckled silently to himself as he listened on. Of course Ladybug would grow roses out of all the flowers she could’ve chosen. It was just so, well…Ladybug, for a lack of better word. 

Ladybug switched into a defensive stance, likely to predict and counter an attack. Consequentially, Chat Noir began to steathily creep towards the akuma, waiting for an opening to strike when the opportunity presented itself. He had to admit it was an interesting experience not being the distraction. It was almost enough to make him forget how odd Ladybug had been acting in the first place.

 

_Almost_

 

He was still going to figure out what was up with Ladybug after this fight was over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Things have been getting busier as the end of the semester approaches. I've been sitting on this chapter for a while mostly just since I don't want to post all my chapters at once and then suddenly find myself out of already-written chapters to put up. I like to have more than one extra chapter at all times and I tell myself it's so that I can have a more consistent update schedule but obviously the resulting effect was quite the opposite. As always, comments and constructive criticism are appreciated!**

 

**I'm not gonna make any promises on when I'll update next since I know that I can't guarantee anything but just know that I haven't forgotten about this fic!**

* * *

 

The akuma made his move first, launching a volley of giant thorns straight at her in one deft motion. Marinette was displeased when she was only able to dodge them by mere inches. It was far too close for comfort and she knew that, but her limbs felt heavy and her body ached everywhere.

Ladybug tried her best to be optimistic. Rather than deflating at the extent of how much her injuries impacted her combat effectiveness, she took that information to reassure her that using her as the distraction was the right choice. She would never have been fast enough to get ahold of the akuma object in her current state.

She stole a glance at Chat, feeling just a bit more confident on the fight when Chat caught her stare and shot a wink back at her.It wasn’t the wink that boosted her confidence, but rather the fact that Chat was in position and ready to attack—or at least that was what she told herself.

The Human Garden threw another series of thorns at Ladybug, aiming for her center of mass. Reflexively, Ladybug dropped to one knee and brought her body close to the ground. It got her out of harm’s way but it also gave a painful reminder not to overexert herself as her injuries burn in discomfort. It was a reminder that she couldn’t quite heed.

For a period of time, she and the akuma exchanged blows, with Ladybug being mostly on the defensive. Chat would occasionally assist her either when he noticed Ladybug having a bit of trouble or if he saw the potential for an opportunity to grab the akuma object, but all of his attempts were fruitless. In addition to their apparent lack of progress in the fight, Ladybug had begun to rapidly tire. Usually, she would have more than enough endurance to last this long, but with her injuries, each movement took twice as much effort and twice as much time.

Ladybug realized she faced a dilemma very quickly. On one hand, her physical condition made her usual moves and dodges excruciatingly painful, yet on the other, she couldn’t just make a half-hearted effort. She had to be able to counter the akuma’s attacks while simultaneously taunting him to evoke a strike out of anger. An attack out of anger were generally reckless and recklessness led to openings—openings which Chat needed and waited for. Marinette breathed out.

 

_It’s just a little pain—nothing I can’t handle._

 

“Come on, is that the best you got?” She shouted, hoping to rile up the akuma as much as she could so that, in his rage, he’d leave an opening for Chat to take. Ladybug was focused on getting the Human Garden as mad as she could as fast as she could. There was no time for puns. She couldn’t spare any of her thinking on puns. Most of her thoughts were focused on suppressing the burning pain she felt at every moment and the rest were on making sure she didn’t die.

The akuma didn’t respond with words, instead opting to try and ensnare her with vines that grew out suddenly from underneath her feet. It was mostly instinct that kept Ladybug from getting caught. The instinct she spent years honing as she and Chat battled akumas on a weekly basis. That and the sheer amount of adrenaline that she had pumping through her veins.

In a flash, Ladybug had latched onto a nearby lamp post with her yoyo and was already zipping away. It took a great deal of effort to hide the pain that the movement gave her, but she managed to keep her stern demeanor on without it cracking.

 

“Those little flowers that grow all over you are such an insult to the eyes!” Ladybug shouted, “If you can’t up a fight, the least you can do is look at least somewhat cool.” At this point, she wasn’t even mocking the akuma. She wasn’t teasing the akuma or using lame puns. At this point she was just throwing plain insults at him. It felt horrible saying that to anyone—even if they forget about it afterward, but she _had_ to wrap this up quickly. Adrenaline could only serve as a temporary solution to major blood loss for so long.

The Human Garden grew more vines out of the ground to try and grab Ladybug while simultaneously lobbing a few lethal thorns at her. She evaded with ease. To a normal bystander she would’ve looked relaxed—graceful even, but to Chat, he could tell something was off.

Ladybug had never before found it in herself to outright insult a person, akumatized or not, and it was clear to Chat that her movements were most definitely _not_ graceful. They looked tense, reflexive rather than predictive, and to Chat’s great discomfort, they left way too small of a margin for error. He couldn’t help but tense up each time a thorn passed her or vines grew out of the ground to try and capture her.

Normally, Chat would be following up Ladybug’s attacks. In an akuma fight, it was usually the two of them against one akuma, and one of their most effective tactics was just to keep attacking the akuma, alternating between who did the attacking. The akuma would wear down under the relentless barrage and the akuma object could be taken soon after. The only problem now was that Ladybug wasn’t attacking.

Chat couldn’t attack frequently since all that would do is wear himself down. If any openings were produced by his attack, Ladybug wouldn’t be ready to exploit it mentally and, if she was as exhausted as she looked, physically. They’d already determined that he was going after the object and she would be the distraction. Chat hated the feeling of uselessness. The most he could do was watch in anticipation to be ready to assist Ladybug—but only when she really needed it. Anything more and their plan would fall apart. If he jumped in to aid Ladybug, it would turn their strategy of using one of them as a distraction into a head-on battle between the two heroes and the akuma. He thought about ignoring the plan and going to help his Lady, but he fought against that temptation. Chat had faith in her abilities and he _had_ to believe that she knew what she was doing. Still, it looked like Ladybug was struggling on her own and it killed him to see it.

 

_Come on, just give me an opening…_

 

Meanwhile, as Chat watched on, Ladybug began to grow desperate. She couldn’t keep up this drawn-out performance of dodging and weaving in hopes that an opening would show itself to Chat. It took a lot of time and endurance for an akuma to begin to show weakness and reckless openings—time and endurance which Ladybug did not have—and the fact that she hadn’t been able to return many attacks of her own to the akuma meant that it would only take longer. It became clear to her that at this point it was just a battle of endurance—one which she was sure to lose if she didn’t switch up what she was doing some way or another. At the rate she was going, it just wouldn't be possible to win. She'd have to try using Lucky Charm.

It usually didn't take too long to cast and she figured if she could manage to dodge another one of the akuma's heavier attacks, she could use her ability while he was recovering. Coincidentally, the Human Garden's right arm began to grow in size and width as he extended his vine-like arm out towards Ladybug, lunging at her seemingly in an attempt to grab onto her legs. Ladybug prepared herself to dodge the attack and follow up immediately by casting Lucky Charm. She needed to give Chat an opening.

Ladybug hastily threw her yoyo off to the side, letting it latch onto a nearby structure and launching herself into the air. She managed to evade the akuma, but as she turned her head around to face where she last was, her breath hitched as a haunting realization hit her. She'd gotten out of the way, but that didn't really matter. Perhaps she was too antsy and dodged too early because the akuma didn't even strike near where she'd been standing. In fact, the Human Garden hadn't actually struck at all.

 

_It's a feint._

 

She remembered that Adrien had told her a bit about fencing once. He briefly described some of the techniques, such as lunges, parries, and particularly feints. He seemed to be pretty well familiarized with the move. Marinette thought back on his description.

 

_"Feints are really useful—they’re one of my favorite moves, actually. Basically, you fake an attack on one side of your opponent only to make a real one on the other. If you do it right, they’ll adjust their defense to your feint and in the process leave their other side wide open.”_

 

Eyes wide, Ladybug snapped her head back to her front and, to her great dismay, she was met with a massive vine hurtling directly at her. She had mere seconds left before it would hit, but that was all the time she needed to understand the inevitability of her collision with the vine. Her yoyo was still retracting after she’d used it to fling herself into the air. Without it, she had no mid-air maneuverability—not that that would’ve gotten her out of the way in time anyway given how close the vine was to making contact.

As it turned out, the Human Garden feinted a lunge for her legs to try and grab her and, in her premature retreat, she gave it time to attack again, although this time rather than the thrust forward, it was more of a wide and horizontal slash, reaching across a good portion of the street. She’d been distracted and unfocused during the fight; this was where all her careless mistakes came to bite her in the back.

She took a brief glance at Chat Noir while mid-air, noticing the anguished look on his face as he ran towards her, arms outstretched. Ladybug locked eyes with Chat for the briefest of moments, sky blue meeting glowing green. Those glowing green orbs were filled with desperation. She knew what he was thinking. It was far too easy to read his expression. He wanted to take the hit for her. She wouldn't have let him anyway.

There was an immense crushing feeling on her chest as the air was knocked out of her. Propelled by the force of the vine, Ladybug was launched through the air at breakneck speeds, slamming into the side of a building and falling limply to the ground. She didn’t even have the time to gasp for air. There was only so much the suit could do and despite all of the magical powers and enhancements it gave its wearer, it couldn’t provide a complete solution to the fragile nature of the human body. The darkness had already consumed her by the time she hit the wall. Ladybug never felt the impact.

* * *

**A/N: P.S. She's not dead, I swear!**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Long overdue update. I'll be getting busier as the school year wraps up so I can't say exactly when I'll be able to update again. As always, leave a review! I live off of them. Don't let me die from lack of reviews pls:(

Adrien had already been well acquainted with feelings of sheer shock and horror when he lost his mother at the age of thirteen. The moment when his father called him into his office and quite emotionlessly unveiled the news of his mother’s disappearance would always be embedded in his memories. 

Adrien could remember how his first thought was denial—complete and utter denial. He’d hoped that it was some kind of cruel prank his father was playing on him, although he knew at the time that the odds of his always-serious business driven father pranking him was slim to none. Especially on a topic such as his mother.

The grim, unflinching expression his father wore was what dissuaded him of that idea, convincing him that this was truly, and horribly, the new reality. His mother would not be coming home. The way his father sat motionlessly and stared straight at Adrien, his lips pursed into a thin line, told him that there would be no “waking up” from this nightmare of a reality.

He remembered how it felt when his stomach dropped and he instantly felt lightheaded. He’d gone to his room without a word and collapsed into his bed, curling in on himself. He felt sick, feeling as though he was going to throw up. It wasn’t that he was ill or ate something bad, of course. Rather, it actually was the immense feeling of disbelief, shock, and despair that suddenly crushed down on him, smothering and suffocating him until he thought he couldn’t breathe. He remembered thinking that nothing could get worse than this. Nothing could be worse than losing his mother. Nothing could be worse than feeling so hopeless that you end up spending several consecutive days laying in bed, physically debilitated by your emotions and nothing else. Nothing could be worse—there was not a thing in the world that could be worse.

Then again, that was before he became Chat Noir. It was before he became the human embodiment of chaos and bad luck in a black leather suit and before he found the next best thing to happen to his life. He cherished and valued it beyond all else, vowing to protect it unconditionally. Thirteen year old Adrien couldn’t begin to fathom a thought that could be worse than losing his mother, yet here he was, his stomach dropping oh so familiarly. There was something that could be worse, indeed.

It was kind of funny with Adrien being so interested in the field of science that something as fickle as human emotions could physically impact someone so much even though they were, in a sense, a figment of one’s imagination. It felt as though he was back in his mansion two years ago, listening as his father told him the news. Only this time, it wasn’t his father he was looking at or world-shattering words he was being told. This time he felt far more. He felt far more guilty, knowing that he was just a few feet away and yet even then he couldn’t save her. He felt far more pain, watching as his partner in red crumpled into a heap on the sidewalk to his side.

Logically, Chat Noir knew that the red was part of her suit, but a paranoid part of him told him it was blood. The deep, rich, crimson color of blood contrasted greatly with the vibrant and lively red of Ladybug’s suit and it usually wasn’t hard to tell them apart, but in this very moment, the two colors were indiscernible. Torn between finishing the fight with the akuma and whisking Ladybug away to safety, Chat looked back and forth between the bundle of vines and the unmoving body covered in bright red as the akuma slowly made its way towards Ladybug.

His first thought was to grab Ladybug and make a quick retreat. His gut instinct agreed with that decision and it would also be the easiest to do out of the two options. However, as Chat moved to take his first step towards his partner, he stopped abruptly. The akuma looked distracted, probably having tunnel vision on Ladybug’s miraculous now that she couldn’t defend herself. The Human Garden was an akuma with strong defensive capabilities and Chat knew that he and Ladybug couldn’t efficiently take it on with a head-on fight, let alone with Chat alone. The idea that he was essentially using Ladybug in her unconscious state as “bait” made him feel disgusting, but he knew that it was his best chance to get rid of the akuma. As he moved in on the akuma from behind, his feet softly tapping on the road at nearly inaudible levels, he found that his mind wouldn’t shake off the thought that Ladybug might’ve been fatally wounded—or worse. He grit his teeth, physically shaking his head in an attempt to free himself from his doubts. The suits were strong. Ladybug was stronger. She’d be alright—she had to be.

Chat shooed his paranoiac thoughts away as he closed in on the akuma, hoping that he wasn’t wrong in his assumption. He was closing the distance fast. A hundred feet shortened into fifty, then twenty, and before he knew it he was practically on top of the Human Garden—and the akuma still hadn’t noticed him as it bent down to take Ladybug’s earrings.

 

“ _CATACLYSM!_ ”

 

Chat practically climbed over the akuma’s head as he was distracted with Ladybug and reached out, grabbing the garden shears which were imbedded in the akuma’s chest. The gardening tool crumbled away into ash and released a dark purple butterfly. Snatching it out of the air before it could get away, Chat Noir wasted no time in rushing over to Ladybug’s side. Clutching the akuma tightly in one hand so that it wouldn’t escape, he shook Ladybug with the other, hoping that she wasn’t so badly hurt that she couldn’t wake up.

A small rustling sound caught his attention and he snapped his head back. The akuma victim stood next to the curb in a daze with a confused expression on his face, looking around at the destruction and trying to piece together an explanation.

“Oh my. What could’ve caused all this destruction?” The gardener looked around in shock at his battle-worn surroundings. Miniature craters peppered the nearby buildings and street where thorns had struck them. If they weren’t all so familiar with the appearance of College Francoise Dupont, it would’ve been unrecognizable to them. He examined his surroundings some more, noticing that he was the only civilian present with Chat Noir and Ladybug on the scene as well. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. “I-I was akumatized, wasn’t I,” He said solemnly. His expression quickly darkened as his eyes trailed over to Ladybug.

“Did I do that…?” The gardener’s voice was weary and heavy with guilt. His eyes told Chat that he knew what happened to Ladybug—and who caused it—but hisvoice seemed genuine, as if he was terrified to believe that he did the action. Chat glared coldly at the old man. As Chat Noir, he was cool, calm, and collected. He was smooth with words and even better with puns, but he didn’t have any room for sympathy right now. He couldn’t provide it—not while his blood ran cold with fear and his body felt numb.

He felt nothing but guilt when he shot the bitter glare at the akuma victim; He and Ladybug both knew that the victims were completely innocent, but he just couldn’t find it in him to lend his support to the gardener—especially not when Ladybug already needed every last ounce of it.

“Yeah,” Chat forced out, his voice sounding far from being friendly yet not quite hostile. He’d answered the question. There was nothing more to it.

“Is there anything I can do to—”

“No,” Chat interrupted curtly, harshly cutting off the gardener, “There’s nothing you can really do to help. The best thing you could probably do right now is to walk down to the police station and offer yourself up for a verbal report of the akuma incident.” The old gardener took one last look at Ladybug with shame etched in his face before nodding at Chat Noir empathetically and reluctantly turning away to leave.

Ladybug’s hiss of pain tore Chat’s attention away from the gardener. It was clear that she was beginning to come to. His hand instinctively moved to hold and comfort her, but he’d stopped before his hands actually made contact with her suit. The vine wouldn’t have cut through her suit so to a bystander everything looked normal, but there simply was no way she wasn’t hurt. She may have appeared fine on the outside, but Chat knew the real damage must’ve been internal and without much knowledge in the medical field, he was unsure of whether it’d only make it worse if he moved her. Even then, though, Chat found himself wondering how a single swing from a vine could do that much damage alone. It was a heavy blow—he wasn’t denying that—but the suits were made to be indestructible and from his own experience, similar attacks from an akuma didn’t do nearly as much damage to him as it did to Ladybug just then. Up until now, there had never been an akuma attack powerful enough to fully incapacitate one of them in a single blow.

He pondered those thoughts for a bit until Ladybug shifted slightly. It was clear that she was beginning to wake up. Chat quickly recollected his wandering thoughts and inched closer and closer to his downed partner, watching anxiously with bated breath to see if she would open her eyes. He let out a great sigh of relief when they did, albeit only slightly.

“Chat…?” Ladybug mumbled, still confused and shaken up both physically and mentally.Her half-lidded eyes widened slightly as she made an attempt to take in her surroundings and remember more about what had just happened. She made a move to get up, placing her hand on the ground and propping herself up on it to try and push herself into sitting position. Chat’s arms swiftly wrapped around her, gently helping her up. His arms held her securely but even in her disoriented state, Ladybug could feel how he was lightly shaking.

The lightness of his touch and the fact that he seemed hesitant to touch her in the first place felt alien to her. She wondered about it for a moment. Chat never hesitated whenever he held Ladybug—He was Chat Noir after all, the smooth, flirtatious, gentlemanly superhero. He was a self-proclaimed “smooth-talker” too, but that didn’t really count in her book. She knew from every time that Chat grabbed ahold of her when he had to get her out of harm’s way that his hold was always firm and reassuring. This time was far different. It was as though he was afraid that Ladybug was made of glass and that the lightest touch would make her shatter. Ladybug would’ve laughed at it all—How Chat is so nonchalant and even finds the time to flirt just a bit during akuma attacks, yet now he treats her like she’s going to break at any moment when the akuma has already been defeated. She definitely would’ve chuckled a little at the thought…or at least she would’ve if Chat’s worries weren’t completely warranted.

 

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Due to the unexpected coincidence/combination of Memorial Day weekend, lack of schoolwork, and my probably-not-good procrastination of what work I did have (It was mostly procrastination), I managed to churn out another rough draft for a new chapter. That means I new chapter for you guys! I really didn't expect to update this soon but it just sort of happened:P This chapter is a lot shorter than the recent ones, so sorry about that! As always, leave a comment, and constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> ***Side Note: Looking for beta readers. They don't have to be English wizards, just people who can catch any grammar mistakes I missed and give their opinion on where the plot is going or how it should go. Join this discord if you're interested: https://discord.gg/aVtFjKA
> 
>  
> 
> Don't abuse the link. It expires after 25 uses. Leave a comment if a new one is needed.

Ladybug was fortunate enough to have had an ever-so-brief period of tranquility immediately after she woke up. For a few blissful seconds, there was nothing to feel and her body just felt numb. Her first instinct was, naturally, to sit upright after laying on cold, rough, and overall uncomfortable concrete for a considerable amount of time. She somehow managed to make out the faint pinpricks she felt on her back as Chat’s arms holding onto her. Chat was there, but he was shaking in terror. Ladybug opened her mouth to speak—to ask her partner what was wrong and how she could fix it—but by the time she made an effort to sit up, her words caught in her throat and suddenly all she knew was pain.

She grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut and instinctively grabbing her side in response to her injuries which had ever-so-gently reminded her of their presence. Ladybug took some labored breathes, forcing air into her lungs despite how much she wanted to just lay down and stop moving.

Ladybug cracked her eyes open a smidge and was immediately met with a familiar shade of green which engulfed her entire vision. Chat’s wide green eyes stared at her intently, worry etched in his face.

“Take it easy Ladybug, you took a pretty nasty hit,” Chat said, trying to ease her back down onto the pavement. “We’re in no rush to get out of here, Bugaboo. Just take a moment to catch your breath.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but even while she was still half-dazed, Ladybug could notice how anxious he really was.

“Yep, no rush at all…” _If it weren’t for the fact that I’m probably bleeding out under this suit of mine._ Ladybug was almost startled by just how raspy and weary her own voice sounded to her. It wasn’t too shocking considering her entire body felt like a dense sack of bricks, heavy and immobile. She considered taking up Chat’s offer to let her have a rest for a moment before realizing that it probably wasn’t the best idea to take a power nap while she was undoubtedly still bleeding an alarming amount underneath her suit.

Her suit was really the only thing that had kept her alive. The pressure it provided against the wound was something akin to putting pressure on a wound considering that it was essentially stuck to her skin.

Ladybug sat up with a grimace, ignoring the flare of pain that shot through her abdomen as much as she could. Her eyes shot over to the side, locking onto the small red object on the road. Her yoyo had been knocked a good distance away when the vine hit her. Chat seemed to sense her goal—he’d probably been following her eyes—and hastily went to retrieve the device. He hurried back and knelt down in front of her, holding the dotted yoyo out to her in the palm of his hand and shakily, Ladybug grabbed it.

Chat extended his other hand out to her, closed in a tight fist. It confused her at first, but with a quick inspection she realized that clutched in his fist was the akuma, the tips of its dark purple wings peeking from between his fingers.

Too tired to go through with her regular procedure, she simply tapped on her yoyo and let it open up to reveal a glowing white sphere. Holding it out to him, Chat placed his fist on top of her palm, opening his hand as he pressed the akuma into the yoyo.

“Bye bye, little butterfly,” Ladybug breathed, not quite able to muster the energy nor the tone that her usual chipper self would say after purifying an akuma. Watching a newly purified akuma flutter away always felt rewarding and she took a great deal of pleasure from watching its white form fly into the sky every time. That fact still held true even from her sitting position on the ground, clutching her side as her eyes followed the butterfly as it seemed to float away.

Chat let out an exhausted sigh as he stood back up. He bent over slightly and held his arm out to help Ladybug up. She took his hand and with him pulling her up, she managed to stand upright on shaky legs. Blackness quickly consumed the edge of her vision and she stood unsteadily, swaying slightly.

It took a moment for her vision to clear up and for her dizziness to subside, but it was immediately replaced with pain as the dull throb in her abdomen suddenly flared up tenfold. Adrenaline had worked sufficiently to block out most of the pain, but now the fight was over and with it her only source of pain relief.

“Pound it?”

Ladybug turned her head jerkily to Chat. Despite her familiarity with their post-battle tradition, it took her a moment to fully understand what he wanted from her. She blinked a few times in a daze but seemed to recognize the gesture after a brief moment. Ladybug held up her own fist to meet Chat’s in the air.

“Pound it,” She said, forcing a smile and trying to make it as convincing as possible. Ladybug was fairly certain that her facade wasn’t believable enough though since Chat continued to watch her worriedly. Chat gave a hesitant fist bump, his expression never changing from one of concern. It didn’t help that Ladybug was barely strong enough to lift her arm up in the first place and Chat’s fist bump kind of just pushed her own fist out of the way rather than connecting firmly as usual.

“Are you going to be well enough to get home on your own?” Chat asked, still not quite willing to believe that Ladybug was being truthful about the extent of her injuries. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” She lied.

“Any chance you could cast Lucky Charm and then fix all this?”

“The spell has to be used _before_ the akuma is purified,”

“So you really can’t fix any of this,”

Ladybug sighed, “Believe me, I wish I could,” _More than you think_

Chat took a breath and, opening his mouth again to speak, he paused, hesitating for a moment. His gaze wandered to the ground, unsure of whether he should voice his concerns, but by the time he recollected his thoughts and looked up, he was met with the sight of Ladybug’s back and realized she was already leaving. He didn’t have time to wait. He had to ask.

“W-wait!’

“Mhm?” Ladybug hummed in acknowledgment, still walking away steadily from Chat.

“You’re sure that Marinette girl is fine, right? She’ll still have those wounds without the healing spell,”

Ladybug stopped dead in her tracks. Silence seemed to fill the Parisian streets as the air hung thick with unnoticed tension between the two superheroes. “Yeah, she’s—” she paused briefly, seeming to hesitate on her words, “—she’ll be fine,”

Chat breathed an audible sigh of relief, “I’m sorry, it’s just…she means a lot to me,”

Ladybug threw her yoyo at one of the buildings surrounding the street, but briefly stopped before she swung away.

“Don’t worry, kitty, Marinette will fine,”

Back still turned to him, she swung off, unable to look him in the eye. Lying to Chat was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done. But lying to _herself_ was quite a difficult task as well—especially when with every swing she made, darkness crept further and further up the edges of her vision, threatening to cut the last threads of consciousness which she desperately clung to.

It was almost rhythmic, like pulse or heartbeat, but it certainly didn’t _feel_ like a heartbeat. A heartbeat was full of life, love, and strength, but this continuous growing pulse of just pitch black _nothingness_. Every time at the lowest point in her swing when the forces of gravity affected her the most, the insurmountable urge to simply let go, relax, and give in to the call of sleep multiplied tenfold until at some point, Ladybug finally reached the limits of her superhero-willpower.

She’d been telling him—telling both of them that “Marinette will be fine”, but did she ever really mean it?

 

Would Marinette be fine?

 

She didn’t know herself.

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: It's been a really long while but I finally took the time to finish another chapter of this story. I'm still sticking to my self-imposed rule of not posted unless I have several chapters already written in advance, so this chapter is one I've been sitting on for a long time.  As usual, constructive criticism encouraged. Feel free to inform me of any grammar mistakes as well (I don't proofread very well:P)**

**To clarify, the idea behind Ladybug not being able to use Miraculous Ladybug isn't that she didn't capture the akuma yet, but rather that she never had a chance to use Lucky Charm, thus meaning Ladybug never received a magical item which is the core of the Miraculous Ladybug spell (Correct me if I'm wrong). This possibility has never been explored in canon episodes, so for plot purposes this story revolves around a hypothetical scenario.**

* * *

 

Adrien let out a exhausted sigh as he detransformed in the alleyway. He gave a light tug on his breast pocket, opening it a bit further as Plagg basically crashed into it. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a piece of camembert which he always kept on hand for Plagg, dropping the pungent cheese into the pocket with Plagg eagerly waiting inside.

Everything was almost subconscious. He had a routine for detransforming after finishing a fight. The piece of camembert he kept on him as spare was small—meant for giving just enough energy for one more Cataclysm or buying enough time for a reasonably long transformation. The system worked consistently, but Plagg had very clearly expressed his disapproval over the amount of camembert which would be used.

The camembert was a tiny piece—pitifully small when compared to Plagg's normal intake of the cheese—but any bigger and the stench would attract far too much attention. So for now, while the piece was small and Plagg most certainly hated that fact, it would have to do seeing as the system had been working fairly consistently so far.

He stepped out of the alley, deciding against entering the school to retrieve his backpack and simply settling on walking home from there. He could retrieve his belongings later and, to be completely honest, the day had been very taxing—and not just physically. The street felt eerily quiet following the akuma attack and suddenly the sounds of his own footsteps and Plagg's delighted munching seemed to pierce his eardrums.

Adrien smiled. He was glad that Plagg was enjoying his well-earned snack. He'd reward him with even more once he made it back home. It was interesting how natural the routine became. It only signified just how common the attacks had become which quite frankly was pretty disconcerting. He wondered if Ladybug had any sort of routine with her kwami…

Ladybug…

"Hey Plagg,"

Plagg put his meal on pause and poked his head out of Adrien's pocket slightly, peering at him through the folds of his shirt pocket.

"What's up?"

"Did you think Ladybug was acting weird at all?"

"Well, you can never really tell with the Ladybugs. Tikki has a history of choosing some pretty 'unique' bugs,"

"I don't know…" Adrien paused, not sure if he wanted to bother Plagg with the rant he was inevitably go on. It wasn't long until he relented.

"It's just that—well, she seemed  _off_  today. Ladybug is usually on the top of her game when there's an akuma but it felt like she was completely distracted by something else. She might have even knew she was distracted herself. We switched up the strategy and that usually never happens! What I'm pretty sure whatever was distracting her is what caused her to get hit by that akuma. Speaking of that fight, do you think she's really okay after that hit, or is she just hiding it? She can be amazingly stubborn sometimes and—"

"Look, Adrien," Plagg said, ending Adrien's uncontrolled rambling, "the Miraculous suits are indestructible by normal means. All she did was hit a brick wall made of normal,  _human_  material. Ladybug will be sore, but she'll be fine. If anything, you should be worrying about your  _friend_  Marinette,"

"Oh my god, Plagg, I completely forgot about her. How could I forget about her after she saved my life. I've been an awful friend," Adrien said ashamedly, picking up his pace as he felt compelled to go check on Marinette as soon as possible.

"I've gotta check on her," Adrien exclaimed. He began to jog, gradually speeding up as his mind kept on relentlessly imagining all sorts of worst-case scenarios with Marinette.

"There's no rush, kid," Plagg yelled out, a little irritated at being jostled around in Adrien's pocket as he began to run. "Human medicine has gotten pretty good over the centuries. Obviously it's nowhere near as good as our magic, but I'm sure it'll be more than enough to take care of Marinette. Not to mention that Ladybug also said she made sure Marinette got help,"

"Yeah… I guess you're right. She's probably getting stitches or something and me being there won't exactly help her much," Adrien sighed, slowing down in his sprint and suddenly feeling a sinking sensation of uselessness. He was the reason Marinette got hurt, yet he couldn't even help her in return—and it is his job to help people as a superhero.

He'd slowed down to a sluggish pace, dragging his feet along the ground and metaphorically deflating as he kept walking. How could he be so useless in helping his friends?

"I should probably go visit her and make sure she's okay, huh?"

"Yeah, I think it'd help relieve your worries too, kid,"

He cast his gaze to the ground in shame. He crossed the intersection without hesitation and without so much as a glance at the roads. His enhanced hearing told him the streets were empty. Just one of his many enhanced abilities which proved to be worthless when it came to Marinette's situation.

Adrien turned left once he reached the other side of the street. He knew Paris like the back of his hand from his and Ladybug's frequent patrols. He didn't even need to look up at his surroundings to know that he was on route to the nearest hospital.

Guilt gnawed at him from within and he couldn't help but feel inadequate and unworthy, not that his father hadn't already thoroughly familiarized him with those feelings. Marinette was the living epitome of kindness and innocence. She wouldn't do so much as hurt a fly and everyone who was even remotely familiar with her knew that. She deserved nothing less than the best yet Adrien couldn't keep her safe. Instead it was the other way around, with her saving him—the guy who actually had  _superpowers._  Adrien clenched his fists together tightly. He had one job as Chat Noir: Protect the civilians of Paris, but he couldn't even fulfill that.

He let a civilian get hurt.

 

_Useless._

 

He let a friend get hurt.

 

_Useless._

 

He let  _Marinette_  get hurt.

 

_Useless doesn't even begin to describe you._

 

"Kid, I'm not just seeing things here, right? Adrien?" Plagg's concerned voice cut through Adrien's thoughts of self-loathing. Outside of camembert, Plagg wasn't one to worry about many things.

"Adrien, I need you to tell me that's what I think it is on the sidewalk!"

Adrien shifted his gaze up from the ground and his eyes immediately began scanning his surroundings. Plagg sounded serious—and Plagg was almost never serious.

There was something—someone on the ground. Adrien squinted hard to try and make out what it was from his distance. Someone was definitely collapsed on the ground.

"It's a person," Adrien muttered, already jogging over to the collapsed civilian, "we gotta help,"

"Kid…" Plagg's voice shook with fear, "that's Marinette,"


End file.
